If you look at sports from a purely narrative standpoint, the goal that eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning fit into the story perfectly.

Capping off a season full of adversity and tough breaks for the Bolts, the Montreal Canadiens received a highly questionable power play with a little more than two minutes left, and Max Pacioretty scored the deciding goal that clinched a first-round sweep.

Though luck haunted the Lightning during a season full of nightmarish breaks, but it all became too much in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. Games 3 and 4 really spotlighted this series of tough times, as there was almost a “What will happen next?” feel — from a goal being disallowed and Steven Stamkos getting banged up in Game 3, to a gut-punch loss in Game 4.

With no Ben Bishop in the entire series and a struggling Anders Lindback pulled in the second period of tonight’s affair, Kristers Gudlevskis played masterfully and the Lightning showed resilience in storming back from a 3-1 deficit to tie it up in the third period. Officials decided not to call Rene Bourque for what many believed was a clear goalie interference call, setting the stage for Cedric Paquette‘s third-period penalty and that game-clincher.

That said, it’s unfair to rob the Canadiens credit for sweeping the Lightning. They generally and sometimes glaringly out-played the Bolts for large portions of this series. The bottom line is that Montreal performed at a higher level through significant chunks of this sweep and deserved it (maybe in four games).

Still, the Lightning probably wrestle with gnawing “What if?” questions about their goalies, officiating and injuries.

The bottom line is that they’ll have a long offseason for soul-searching, as they are the first playoff team to be eliminated in 2014. On the bright side, it seems that there are also bright sides to look on:

That, and the horrible no-goal call last game. I’m not saying the Lightning would have won the series, or even the game, had that call gone the other way…. but it all but sealed the deal for Montreal once they scored shortly after.

joey4id - Apr 22, 2014 at 10:10 PM

So much BS from so many who know nothing. An ex ref with zero ties to the NHL, and now an analyst broke down the sequence of events that occurred from the moment Killorn crashed into the net, and the disallowed goal. I know you’re not usually the type who will seek to learn from others, but in case you have a change of heart, you may want to read the following. Hint: rule 69.3 was the overriding rule.

joey, I’ve been playing hockey for 24 years… and I’ve even reffed a few games over the years. I know the rule book, much better than you do I’m sure.

I also don’t care what an analyst on TSN, a network that leans heavily in favor of Canadian teams, has to say on the subject. I read that piece, and it ignores several key factors when coming to its conclusion…. such as the fact that Killorn was pushed into the net/Price, Price commits an obvious dive after bumping into Killorn, and Price had several seconds to re-establish himself but made little effort to do so before the goal.

boltsfan777 - Apr 23, 2014 at 7:19 AM

Agreed. But lets see…
Game 1 – overtime.
Game 2 – clear Montreal win.
Game 3 – tie game until a Bolts goal taken away by Montreal’s homer referee Francis Charron at the game’s turning point, sticking a dagger into the Bolts. Wrongly called offside call against Stamkos during a break away. At that point they realize they have to beat the Canadiens and the Canadians.
Game 4 – Montreal trips, interferes, for much of the 58 minutes of the game, and gets away with it. Also committed by Montreal – several clear icing non-calls, diving, and then wrongly called offsides against the Bolts late in the 3rd. Then the tripping call against the Bolts, which they had been letting go all game, with 2 minutes left!!! Now I get it. When the chips are down, Montreal gets all the calls.
The Bolts weren’t good much of the time, but whenever the Bolts were coming back, the homer officiating was a disgrace.

joey4id - Apr 23, 2014 at 7:46 AM

stakex, why does it come down to soft racism when it comes to disagreeing? Does it take an American referee born in Florida clearly explain it to you? Fraser breaks down the sequence of events as they occurred, and clearly explains why 69.1 didn’t apply. If Killorn would have scored at the moment he crashed into the net then, 69.1 applies. And he clearly wasn’t pushed. However, one can’t argue the fact that Price purposely trips in Killorn’s feet, but the rule clearly indicates that this is immaterial. Anyway! It wouldn’t have made a difference in the series except for possible game 5, which means about $1.8 million in the TB coffer.

If the Bruins move on I’m so not going to be looking forward to having to watch the diving pukes to the north. It’s a good thing the Bruins would have home ice because they sure as hell won’t be winning up there. Although I’m sure Joey will tell me all the penalties are legit.

Right the bruins dive so much that they are at the very bottom of the league in powerplays for … I guessall that diving and crying is the result of that or how pierre mcguire said that they ddon’t dive its not their mindset that’s why they don’t get alot of penalties .. well everyone but marchand even I gotta admit that haha but no matter what bruins hate habs habs hate bruins if the bruins make it past detriot I can’t wait cuz its gonna be an amazing series no matter the outcome

joey4id - Apr 22, 2014 at 10:36 PM

Whatever! But I will tell you the Bruins will beat the Habs no doubt because they have the better team regardless that the Habs will buy off the refs.

boltsfan777 - Apr 23, 2014 at 7:28 AM

Now I get it, what I’ve been hearing all these years, about the officiating bias that Montreal receives. I know the Bruins have suffered the same fate many times in the past, going back a long way, due to the Monteal homer officiating. All of a sudden I feel an alliance with Bruins fan, except during Bolts-Bruins games. Even the conspiracy theorists aren’t wrong every time.

joey4id - Apr 23, 2014 at 7:48 AM

So, why hasn’t Montreal won a SC since 1993?

boltsfan777 - Apr 23, 2014 at 8:43 AM

How many clearly biased calls by American referees have gone against Montreal at playoff game turning points since ’93, when the score was tied? It happened twice in this series.

You want to cite the rule book as evidence you are right. You say these are judgement calls. Okay, well, again, the refs hadn’t been calling interference or tripping the whole game last night, which Monteal blatantly committed MANY times last night (which obviously could have been called per the rule book). Why call it against the Bolts with 2 minutes left? Are you saying that’s fair? And there was absolutely no reason to call offside against Killorn mid way through the 3rd. They just THOUGHT he was GOING to be offside. C’mon, how many examples do you need?!?!?!

If there is one Lightning that has nothing to be embarassed about, it is Gudlevskis. It isn’t just one game in Sochi anymore. He has earned a shot at cracking the lineup next season, even if it is as Bishop’s backup. I cheered for the Canadiens, but I really admire this kid’s abilities..

That tripping penalty at the end was ugly as hell, man, those guys in black were terrible against Tampa.

joey4id - Apr 22, 2014 at 9:57 PM

The Bolts were out coached, out played, inexperienced, and out goalied. Stamkos sorely missed St. Louis, and he under achieved. Not that St. Louis would have made a difference without Bishop, but maybe they would have won one, and maybe two.

You forgot out-officiated which tilted 2 games. In the end, Tampa just had too much adversity. The Bishop injury, the Malone Arrest, the St. Louis trade, the Stamkos leg, Injuries at the end of the season to Palat and Fillppula (who didn’t seem to be 100%). A defense that was struggling. If the series exposed one thing, it’s that Tampa needs some defense and their kids like Kucherov need to get defensively more responsible, and physically get bigger and stronger to go along with their offensive skill.

I to hope they don’t have to play up north so we don’t have to watch the cheap short artists and particularly the rat Marchand the biggest plug in the league

drewzducks - Apr 22, 2014 at 10:26 PM

You to? Or did u mean U2?

muckleflugga - Apr 22, 2014 at 9:59 PM

tampa bay hits a wall called selective refereeing … predicted, predictable but farce by every measure

conundrum pending …

which league kiss-ass french connection prevails should either of boston, montréal or pittsburgh meet …?

joey4id - Apr 23, 2014 at 8:10 AM

flugga, are you implying that Montreal will win the cup because they are favored by the NHL and french Canadian refereeing? If indeed you are, then one has to wonder why they haven’t won since 1993. With all the English Canadian refs you also have to wonder why Toronto hasn’t won all these years.

This couldnt be more wrong. They have up and coming talent such as Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson, and Ben Bishop is no slouch either. Losing Marty hurts, but saying this team lacks talent is just silly

Yeah he’s right , their farm system is stacked , drouin will be in nhl next year and him and stamkos are gonna be a deadly pair for a longtime , which I’m not a lightning fan but you gotta love stamkos he’s theman and I’m glad he has a potential star on the way

If Drouin and Brett Connolly pan out, that will no doubt help. However, they need more help on their blue line and more guys who are hard to play against come playoff time. Re-signing Callahan is also a must.

Im not going to regurgitate the player list that Pfhockey mentioned..but damn canucks30.. you need to get savvy on farm leagues before you make idiotic commrnts as such. Tampa’s depth is masdive compared to Vancouver (assuming based on name). The Canucks aging roster..limited farm league and horrible coaching..no need to say more.

I wasn’t talking about nor comparing the Lightning to the Canucks so I don’t know what you’re talking about.

I was making an impartial observation about another team. Not everything is about the Canucks.

Those prospects and players in the system are exactly what I was referring to when I said they need to surround Stamkos and Hedman with more talent. They still need major reinforcements on their blue line and the loss of St. Louis changed the identity of the team (he was their captain and longest serving player).

Make sure he runs mike richards for la too cuz he did same thing to couture in game 2 ,not saying it wasnt a dumb friggin play by lucic but spearing happens more than ppl are making it seem no one seemed to care except for crybabys who think the nhl should be a two hand touch league its playoff hockey shut up already

To Joey4id: I’m sorry but you’re dead wrong about Stamkos missing St. Louis. Stamkos was a PPG player in the 4 games played in the series and a PPG player without St. Louis in the regular season. I know it’s not all about points but check stats before blindly posting

joey4id - Apr 22, 2014 at 10:38 PM

Yeah! Right! And why does a rookie have 7 pts in 3 games in the playoffs and Stammer only had 4 in 4 games.

Joey…. What a moronic statement that Stammer under performed. He had a point per game in the series with a team full of rookies and a back up goalie. Montreal out played the Bolts a lot in this series. Give them a lot of credit. Good first taste of playoff hockey for our youngsters. This team will not be a flash in the pan. It is being built to make the playoffs year after year.

joey4id - Apr 22, 2014 at 10:20 PM

We have different expectations for a superstar player. Nathan McKinnon and Paul Stastny have 7 points each in 3 games. Heck, Palat has 3 pts in 4 games. Qualifying my comment as moronic is more a symptom of your knowledge of the game. To resist influence from others is to deny yourself of some knowledge and wisdom.

drewzducks - Apr 22, 2014 at 11:04 PM

Just like I predicted…

drewzducks – Apr 22, 2014 at 10:29 PM

Joey and moronic is a bit redundant, don’t you think?

drewzducks - Apr 22, 2014 at 10:29 PM

Joey and moronic is a bit redundant, don’t you think?

joey4id - Apr 22, 2014 at 10:40 PM

As much moronic > drewzducks. Don’t you think?

joey4id - Apr 22, 2014 at 11:10 PM

drewzducks = troll…..

Troll: a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

The only non-Top 4 seeds to win the Stanley Cup in the last 20 years are the ’95 Devils and ’12 Kings. If you go back even further, by and large regular seasonDivision, Conference, and Presidents’ Trophy winners have virtual exclusivity over the Stanley Cup.

Sure every team has a probabilistic chance. But over the last century the vast majority of teams that win the Stanley Cup are also the teams that are at the top of the standings in the regular season. That’s a historical fact that has held true over time.

The Bolts’ season ended when Bishop went down. To think all they went through this year with a boatload of kids on the roster, losing Stamkos for half the season, the St. Louis Olympic debacle and still they managed 101 points on the season and a trip to the playoffs in a division no one expected them to be able to compete in.

Montreal had the experience (and the refs) in their favor and without Bishop, they were certainly the better hockey team. Congrats to them. I just wish it would have been a clean series without the Ref assist.

If the Lightning are awarded that goal in Game 3, it’s a different hockey game with Tampa Bay playing with the lead and Carey Price getting a little more nervous. Then tonight, after ignoring trips, holding calls, interference – hell – high sticks for 58 minutes, the refs see Montreal blow a 2 goal lead and want to make sure they don’t head to OT…give them that power play before Price lets in another softie.

One thing will come out of this series I never expected….I’ll have to root for Boston next series…and that sucks.

joey4id - Apr 23, 2014 at 8:41 AM

Really! Look! I’m not a Habs fan any more than I am a Rangers fan though I picked them to win their respective series. Do you really believe what you just wrote? There is so much at stake when a team wins and there is so much refereeing oversight in the NHL. Do you seriously think owners wouldn’t rage at the thought of a referee fixing a game? Only fans would come up with that stuff. Are there bad calls? Are there missed calls? Yes. They have existed since the game was invented, and they happen in every sport where judgement is required to officiate a game.

As for the trip in the last minute of last night’s game, well, it was a trip. However, that trip may not have been called had it occurred at center ice. It happened in the defensive zone, and it caused a turnover. The only way that doesn’t get called would be because the referees didn’t see it. It happens in every series of every playoff game, and happens during the regular season. You just need to watch more hockey to understand how the game is played and called. Players need to be more disciplined and smart about pushing the envelope. You put your team in a bad position if you get caught committing an infraction in the offensive zone. Bad time for Paquette to push the limit of what is permissible and what is not.

Funny how people only mention the blown calls against Tampa and not the ones against MTL. Some people just can’t be objective when their team is playing. There were just as many blown calls against MTL in this serie. Those saying that the refs were pro-MTL last night were clearly one-sided themselves and not objective. For those saying that the impact of those blown calls weren’t the same, that is not true. Brière was unjustly sent to the box which Tampa scored on (before the disallowed goal).
(1 – 1 on potential game changing calls)

The refs even gave them a make up call last night when Palat’s stick pushed Price so hard into the goal that Palat could’ve tickled Price’s nutsack. Yes Gorges was there as well but there is no denying that Palat is pushing on the pad VERY hard. (2 – 1 Tampa on potential game changing calls). Only Therrien didn’t use it as an excuse like Cooper did.

Be real people. Tampa was inexperienced and was outplayed. Cooper had no answer but tried to put the blame on the refs constantly (like MTL did against Ottawa in last year’s playoffs).
Bishop might have won a game but not much more would’ve been different. That having been said, I wish fans would be kinder on Lindback. He was not perfect (and was drained physically & emotionally in game 4) but played well (especially in game 3 where he faced a barrage and could easily have been 4-0 MTL after 1). Not even a thank you! This was not Lindback’s fault either…

nhstateline - Apr 23, 2014 at 7:41 AM

Dear Bolts fans:

Your team had a great season, Congratulations to all!!!

You’ve just experienced what it’s like to play Montreal in a playoff series. The flopping, diving and whining. The relentless bad officiating, the two sets of rules and all the important calls going against your team. We Bruins fans (and all of their other divisional opponents) will tell you the same story because the same thing’s happened to all of our teams at one time or another. It’s just hard to beat a good team like Montreal (and they are a good team even if the way they play is despicable a lot of the time) when they get away with so much and get so much help. They really don’t need to do any of that but it’s how they’ve been playing for a long time (even if based on number of cups one since Mulroney was PM, it doesn’t seem to work all that well).

Watching that series made my respect for the Bruins current opponent (the Red Wings) grow by leaps and bounds. They play a very skilled game like men not like Montreal. Detroit’s a team worthy of respect and Montreal is well…..something.

If there are fans who really shouldn’t say this type of bs, it is Bruins fan. They have been getting away with everything since their cup run.

For your viewing pleasure ladies & gentlemen!

Julien & the Bruins (fans included) are the biggest hypocrites of them all. The worst is that almost none of them are repeat offenders as the league always bail them out. If you touch one of them though!

Ah, John Stewart, a man who couldn’t carry Rick Mercer’s skates most days.

The league never bails the Bruins out. Quite the opposite really. And as for who gets calls and who doesn’t, the differential in pp time this year between Montreal and the Bruins speaks for itself as it does most years. And I wouldn’t say some guys on the Bruins wouldn’t be a good fit with a more Canadiens style of diving….I mean play (that’s you Brad Marchand) but most of the Bruins play more honestly than that (so do most of the Wings in this series too).

I was surprised by nothing that happened to the Bolts. Nor should anyone who follows the Sens, Sabres or Leafs be surprised what happened to the Bolts. It’s happened to all of the teams who were/are in Montreal’s division and ran into them in the playoffs.

Tampa just did not have what it takes to hang with a team as skilled as Montreal. With the way the Habs are playing I cant think of any team in the East that will be able to stop them. Boston is too slow and Pittsburgh has no defence and a nutjob for a goalie.

People say the Bruins are too slow but the question is too slow compared to what ?

They’re also big, strong, responsible and play excellent defense. That said, they’re not done with the Red Wings yet. Their opponent is and remains a very formidable Detroit team until and if the Bs win four games.

If and until then, Montreal’s a great city and Quebec’s a wonderful province. Lots of other things to do for a week and a half while the Bruins and Wings finish up. Go do some of them.

They are slow compared to any team with skates! And Detroit should beat the Bruins but from what I saw last night the calls are going Bostons way and it is a fact that ever since Campbell joined the Bruins it has been this way. So Boston will throw elbows, hit after the whistle, fake injuries and dive until they get their way.

The Bruins do have certain players who can get away with murder (cough cough… Chara, Lucic, Marchand, Thornton…) yes but they are highly skilled as well. I do have to say that I agree with your statement about them getting away with since Campbell Jr. has joined the team. Don’t be disillusional though… MTL will have their hands full with the B’s if they get past Detroit and the refs are calling it fair. Montreal was significantly better than Tampa but Boston, we shall see…

nhstateline - Apr 23, 2014 at 2:20 PM

well except every time Detroit gets a good breakout, here comes the Bruins center backchecking and trying to get in front or the wings are slowing up the breakouts with their sticks. They aren’t the fastest team but they do skate well, play together and work their system extremely well.
The biggest adjustment I’ve seen in the first three games is where they’re stationing the D – a little further back and having them be a little less active. They’re not willing to give Detroit odd man rushes at all even if it makes the forwards have to work harder on their own as a result.
They keep doing that then they have a good shot to win this series.